Wisconsin Debates on Allowing Cryptocurrency for Political Donations

“Should political campaigns be allowed to accept donations in cryptocurrencies,” the issue has divided the Ethics officials in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. And, if Wisconsin approves the move then it will join Montana, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. federal government that allow cryptocurrency in campaign contributions.

At a hearing on April 24, the Wisconsin Ethics Commission extensively debated the issue but the decision on it remained inconclusive. Favouring the move was Phil Anderson, chairman of the Wisconsin Libertarian Party who pointed out the cryptocurrencies being widely accepted as currency and as a store of value and also CBOE offers a future market for Bitcoin.

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Despite all the factor favouring its acceptance, several members of the commission pointed out that the transaction’s anonymous nature is a huge risk as crypto donations are untraceable and open the door for violations of campaign contribution laws.

According to commissioner Pat Strachota.said: “If we can’t accurately and immediately describe who’s donating these funds, there’s a hesitation on my behalf to allow it”, while Wisconsin State Representative Jimmy Anderson, a Democrat, the cryptocurrencies in political campaigns are very dangerous and will going to be an ethical nightmare.

Though there are some risks in allowing cryptocurrencies in the political system but politicians do not prohibit the practice. In fact, several American politicians have openly accepted cryptocurrencies as donations. U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky who ran for Presidential election in 2016 accepted Bitcoin in campaign contributions. Similarly, Austin Petersen, Missouri Republican who is running for Senate has accepted 24 fractional bitcoin donations (totalling $9,700) in January 2018.